Children's Association for Nature » taking action

Ecological Superhero— The Human Shrub

Mina — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 06:02:53 +0000

In Colchester (Essex, England), a real life superhero has taken root. The identity of the Human Shrub remains secret while the Shrub brings life to the neglected planters of Colchester. The guerrilla gardener is supported by many people and, well, not supported by many politicians.
(link to article)
What sort of ecological superhero will you be?

Write to a Politician

Mina — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:10:57 +0000

Especially one who is not making people happy, not contributing to world peace, and not truly trying to protect the environment. If they are doing a good job, encourage it. In Elizabeth May’s “How To Be An Activist ” pamphlet, here are four of the ten getting started points, the ones which apply to this sort of activism.

Refuse to be intimidated. If you are told that a subject is too technical or scientific for you to understand, don’t believe it. Elected politicians make these decisions all the time based on general knowledge and their sense of public opinion. The claim of “expert” versus average concerned citizen is inherently anti- democratic and elitist. You may not be an expert. But you can read and understand what experts have to say. Make a note of good quotes (including the source) of expert views concerned with the environment.

Don’t take no for an answer. Be persistent. The squeaky wheel.

Ask lots of questions. Get to the bottom of issues. Do your homework.

Be unfailingly polite. Being persistent is not the same thing as being rude. You may be in this for the long haul, so don’t burn any bridges.

And here are a few things I would like to add:

Use detail. Do not just say “Don’t log the forest. Bye” for example, list all the reasons why the forest should not be logged, and information about species, especially endangered ones, that live there. Use interesting words, lots of description, accurate stats, etc.
Don’t be fooled by greenwashed responses. See my blog post on greenwashing to tell between ‘green’ as in government/corporation propaganda and green as in sustainable.
Don’t always show which ’side’ of the issue you’re on. Usually you’ll get more information if you are not obviously opposing it.
Get more people to write letters. The more letters a politician recieves on a specific issue, the more attention that issue gets.

Good luck !

Learn How to Save an Animal

Mina — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 05:39:46 +0000

Have you ever wondered what to do if you find a sick, injured or orphaned wild animal? You can learn now at:

http://www.wildliferescue.ca/todo.shtml

It’s great to be able to help wild animals. And I’m sure the animals think it’s great too!

We Are What We Do

Mina — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:32:43 +0000

We Are What We do is a “New movement inspiring people to use their everyday actions to change the world.” I bought their book, Change the World for Ten Bucks, and it is really great. I am going to start a series of posts for their actions and for ones I come up with. You can visit their website at:
wearewhatwedo.ca

or suggest an action at:

suggestions@wearewhatwedo.ca

Inspired by this, I decided to start a series of posts for these actions. You can come up with your own actions and post them, too! (but try to make sure there are no number repeats, and please put them in the ‘World-Changing Actions’ category.